Adekunle Gold Recounts Terrifying Sickle Cell Crisis Mid-Flight to Tanzania
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| Adekunle Gold (Nigerian singer-songwriter) |
Afrobeats singer Adekunle Almoruf Kosoko, popularly known as Adekunle Gold, has recounted how a severe sickle cell crisis struck during a flight to Tanzania, leaving him unable to walk and requiring a wheelchair when the plane landed in Ethiopia.
Adekunle Gold, who has been open about living with the genetic blood disorder, shared the experience in an interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra.
"The last major crisis that I had. This is not the one I talked about when I was 20. The last major crisis I had happened on a plane," he said.
The singer explained that he first assumed the stomach pain he felt in-flight was caused by something he had eaten at the airport.
"I was going to Tanzania. And I was supposed to lay over in Ethiopia. I just noticed that I started feeling pain in my stomach. I was cramping. I thought it was maybe some meal that I had at the airport. I was like, 'I shouldn't have eaten that,'" he said.
"I was beating myself up about that, but it kept going. I went to the toilet nothing came out. They almost landed the plane because of me, because it was really bad."
According to Adekunle Gold, the crisis had become so intense that he could barely move by the time the flight arrived in Ethiopia.
"Thankfully, we were closer to landing in Ethiopia. I could not even walk. For the first time in my life, they had to put me in a wheelchair, and they took me to the hospital. And the doctor told me that I had a crisis," he added.
He noted that the episode exposed him to a different manifestation of his condition.
"The only crisis I have known in my life is in my stomach. That was the first time I ever heard about that," he said.
The singer disclosed that the doctor later advised him to drink more water while flying, after finding that his oxygen level was low.
"The doctor now told me that when I am on the plane, I should make sure I drink a lot of water. And that my oxygen level was low because I did not drink a lot of water that day.
"I said, 'Wow!' They almost landed the plane because of me because it was really bad."
Speaking on the difficulty of managing sickle cell while travelling frequently, he said: "I feel like I live on the plane, I'm on the plane 24/7 and if you know anyone living with sickle cell, you will know it is about oxygen, oxygen level and when you are up there, it is crazy."
